NORAD: North Korean Object Appeared To Reach Orbit

A missile is displayed during a military parade to mark 100 years since the birth of North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-Un delivered his first public speech on April 15 and vowed to push for "final victory" for his impoverished state despite a failed rocket launch two days ago. AFP PHOTO / PEDRO UGARTE (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)FIle photo of a North Korean missile (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) — The North American Aerospace Defense Command says North Korea appears to have launched “an object” into Earth orbit, but neither the missile used nor debris from the launch are a threat to North America.

NORAD officials said U.S. missile warning systems detected and tracked the launch at 7:49 p.m. EST Tuesday. The missile was tracked in a southerly direction.

NORAD said initial indications were that the first stage of the rocket fell into the Yellow Sea and that the second stage fell into the Philippine Sea.

Quoting a NORAD news release: “Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit. At no time was the missile or the resultant debris a threat to North America.”